Saint Hilane Square, northwest corner, third floor of a restaurant.
When the ghost wolf with a rose in its mouth appeared before Ernest Boyar, Mistral, with pale silver hair and scarlet eyes, instantly withdrew his gaze from Emlyn White. Darkness surged from behind him, filled with countless tiny bats.
Bribe... This vampire count had only silently uttered a word when he "saw" an overturned carriage, "heard" the neighing of horses, and "smelled" various odors, but he couldn't locate the source of the accident and chaos.
At that moment, his "vision" suddenly darkened, his "eyes" seemed to lose their light sensitivity, and the noise in his "ears" ceased!
Count Mistral inwardly "huffed" and was about to merge with the countless bats behind him, to descend and reform beside Ernest Boyar.
But then, within the gloomy "vision," a glimmer leaped out.
The glimmer rapidly expanded, growing brighter and brighter, and from it stepped a golden figure with twelve pairs of jet-black wings!
Those pairs of wings spread one after another, covering Mistral's "field of view." Light and dark interleaved on them, forming mysterious and intricate symbols. They were inseparable from the golden figure, at once holy and depraved, both light and dark.
An Angel! Mistral's pupils dilated slightly, and he couldn't help stepping back, aborting his earlier intention.
…………
Ernest Boyar quickly and groggily regained consciousness and saw a pair of eyes as clear as gems and as limpid as a lake. He felt a newspaper being stuffed into his hand.
Within those emerald eyes, ripples stirred, swirling into whirlpools in the depths, as if to draw in the soul of the beholder.
Ernest Boyar instantly became immersed and could no longer look away.
Then, a soft, ethereal female voice sounded in his ears:
"Take the newspaper, follow Emlyn White... "Take the newspaper, follow Emlyn White..."
The voice layered and echoed in Ernest Boyar's ears, drilling into his brain, slipping into his mind.
Ernest Boyar nodded dazedly, feeling there were more words to follow, but he couldn't make them out.
The newsboy, with a sling bag and a newspaper, quickly turned around and nimbly weaved through several bicycles, merging into the passing crowd.
"He" had delicate features, with messy hair falling over his eyebrows. As he walked, he took off the black mesh gloves that had somehow appeared on his left hand, folded them, and stuffed them into the newspaper bag.
The wind blew, and "his" clothes tightened slightly, revealing a bulge on his arm.
A few seconds later, Ernest Boyar suddenly leaped backward, as if dodging something.
Not good! I've been affected by a nightmare ability! As soon as he steadied himself, his pupils dilated, and he looked around warily, bracing for an incoming attack.
Though Ernest Boyar was puzzled by how easily he had been dragged into a dream, he knew this was not the time for details; what came next was crucial, and he couldn't afford to be distracted.
Ding!
Several bicycles converged, ringing their bells to remind the gentleman standing in the middle of the road to move aside.
Ernest Boyar narrowed his eyes at them, his muscles tensed beneath his clothes, ready to spring.
The bicycles swerved around him, while passersby either hurried past or slowed down to point and whisper.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Twelve bells rang in succession. White steam billowed from the chimneys atop Saint Hilane Church, and hymns of praise resounded inside and out along with the turning of huge gears and levers.
In the square, everyone stopped. In this sacred moment, they either closed their eyes in prayer or listened quietly, whether they were followers of the God of Steam and Machinery or not. Only the fed white doves flapped their wings simultaneously and soared into the air.
…………
Dong! Dong! Dong!
As the bells tolled, no one moved. Inside the private dining room, Count Mistral stood with a solemn expression, motionless.
His "vision" had recovered, but he saw only workers in gray-blue and light blue clothes and identical bicycles. He found nothing else, and Ernest Boyar was completely unharmed.
Of course, he guessed from the newspaper in the hands of that vampire viscount that the earlier newsboy was problematic, but he did not attempt pursuit.
Obviously, the ability that had just utilized an Angel's status definitely did not belong to a mid-to-low Sequence Beyonder. That is, the force behind Emlyn White had at least a demigod hidden nearby. Mistral believed that if he made a move, he would surely be obstructed or even attacked.
When he himself was in an easily spotted position while the enemy was hidden somewhere unknown, Count Mistral, this vampire count, thought this was not good; forcing a pursuit would only lead to major problems.
Moreover, for the vampires, this was merely a probe. If the force behind Emlyn deployed a demigod, they would rely on Ernest Boyar's self-protection to hold back that power, allowing Mistral to use the "Rose Oath" to confirm the attacker's identity. They had no intention of provoking a fierce conflict. In the proposed plan, at most Mistral would stop the opponent to prevent Ernest Boyar from being harmed.